Girl assaulted, beaten up by a senior in JNU campus

Just six days after a woman student was mercilessly attacked by her lovelorn classmate inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, another student has been assaulted by her former classmate.

The stories are similar; this time the accused was a 24-year-old language graduate who was infatuated by his victim but had his proposals repeatedly rejected.

On Sunday, Abhinandan Verma asked the victim to meet him in front of Shipra hostel, where she stayed. She arrived on the spot at around 11 pm and Verma again proposed to her and was once again turned down.

Unable to take the rejection, Verma slapped the victim and then proceeded to manhandle and molest her before fleeing.

A complaint was lodged with the police after the victim recounted the incident during a late-night gender sensitisation session.

The accused is the son of a Bihar police official and was arrested on Monday afternoon.

Police said that as per the victim, a second-year student of BA Spanish who hails from Rajasthan, she had first met Verma two years ago. He is a resident of Bihar’s Gaya district and was in the process of seeking admission in an MA course.

“The incident occurred when she was taking a walk with her friends near the administrative block of the university around 11 pm,” said a senior police officer. “He called out to her and asked her to meet him near the Shipra Hostel where she is lodged,” he added.

After the assault, the victim recounted the incident at a session of gender sensitization committee against sexual harassment (GSCASH) being held on campus.

“The security guard lodged a complaint at the local police station subsequently and Verma was arrested on Monday afternoon,” the officer added.

Interestingly, JNU students and teachers had held a late night public meeting on Saturday to talk about gender violence and safety of women on campus.